Current work vehicles, such as tractors and other agricultural vehicles, include an electronically controlled engine and a transmission, such as a power shift transmission (PST) or a continuously variable transmission (CVT), coupled to the engine. The transmission is, in turn, coupled to at least one drive axle assembly for transferring torque from the transmission to the vehicle's wheels or tracks. For instance, for a four-wheel drive track-driven vehicle, a drive wheel of each front track assembly is typically rotationally coupled to a front axle assembly of the work vehicle for transferring torque transmitted from the engine to the front track assembly while a drive wheel of each rear track assembly is typically rotationally coupled to a rear axle assembly of the work vehicle for transferring torque transmitted from the engine to the rear track assembly. As is generally understood, each drive wheel may be configured to rotationally engage a corresponding endless track of the associated track assembly such that rotation of the drive wheel rotates the track, thereby allowing the vehicle to be driven forward or backward.
Each track assembly is typically associated with a suspension system having an undercarriage support beam. The undercarriage support beam is used to support the vehicle above various load bearing wheels (e.g., roller wheels), which roll on the endless track as the work vehicle traverses a field or other driving surface. For most suspension systems, it is desirable to distribute the weight of the work vehicle across the load bearing wheels to reduce the stresses acting on the track that may otherwise decrease track longevity due to overheating or other weight overload issues. To allow for such weight distribution across the load bearing wheels, systems have been developed that are designed to dampen movement of one or more system components relative to the other components of the suspension system. For instance, U.S. Patent Publication No. 2015/0321711, entitled “Pin Assembly for a Tracked Work Vehicle Suspension System,” and U.S. Patent Publication No. 2015/0217816, entitled “Suspension System for a Tracked Work Vehicle,” both disclose suspension systems that allow a roller wheel beam of the system to be coupled to the undercarriage support beam in a manner that dampens movement of the wheel beam relative to the support beam. While such suspensions systems certainly provide improvements over other conventional suspension systems for track-driven work vehicles, further improvements and/or refinements are still needed to provide cost-effective suspension systems that allow for sufficient motion damping between the system components.
Accordingly, an improved suspension system for coupling the load bearing wheels to a support beam of the suspension system would be welcomed in the technology.